6 YouTube Stunts Gone Horribly Wrong

They wanted to make funny videos to entertain people on YouTube. But, instead their pranks resulted in tears, arrests and even death.

1. Orbeez prank

A California husband and wife were arrested in March of 2017 after viewers of their YouTube channel alerted police. A stunt they posted to Youtube showed them driving around in a pickup with their 8-year-old son (as well as an adult) sloshing around in the truck bed. The bed was filled with water absorbent beads called Orbeez. Holly Piazza, 45, and Brian Chase, 37, were arrested forchild endangerment, according to an ABC affiliate in Chicago. Piazza was also issued a ticket for dumping the beads onto the street, which the couple was forced to pay to clean up.

2. Book shooting prank

In June 2017, a pregnant Minnesota teenager fatally shot her boyfriend while shooting a prank video. Monalisa Perez, 19, told police that 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz wanted to make a video of her shooting a book as he held it. They apparently thought the book would stop a bullet, according to a criminal complaint. Perez used a Desert Eagle to attempt the challenge. Tragically, the couple's 3-year-old daughter witnessed the shooting, according to WDAY. The couple had uploaded several prank videos. In a few of them, they talked about their hopes of becoming famous. According to The New York Times, Monalisa has been charged with second-degree manslaugher, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of $20,000, or both.

3. Donut prank

A Florida Youtuber known for his viral pranks, which often include grabbing food from local shops, was jailed after swiping a tray of donuts. John Robert Hill, 20, known on social media as Boonk IG, had previously uploaded videos of him stealing sodas from a gas station and pizza from a Little Caesar's. But when he jumped over a Dunkin Donuts counter in May 2017 to grab donuts, Hill ended up in court. He posted the video on YouTube and Instagram. In the end, he was sentenced to 60 days of probation for taking the $38 worth of confections.

4. Car break-in prank

Logan Paul, 22, was attempting to record a comical video for his Youtube channel in an Ohio Walmart parking lot in February 2014. But, the victim of his prank didn’t find it very funny. In fact, she was terrified. Paul entered a woman’s car, sitting in the passenger seat next to her and then began filming her, asking if she was mad. When she told him to leave, he didn’t immediately exit the vehicle. The woman, who was worried that she would be physically hurt in the incident, told Radar, “It was a traumatic experience and I didn’t appreciate it.”

5. Trespassing prank

An Ottawa YouTuber, who called himself JayStation, was becoming known in 2016 for his 24-hour challenges. His YouTube channel featured him trespassing and spending the night in various businesses and properties. He was arrested and charged with trespassing for the footage only hours after telling his audience that he quit his job because he was making so much money from his YouTube channel. He stopped making challenge videos for YouTube because he said it was risking his freedom. He said, “That’s not something I am prepared to give up.”

6. Invisible Ink prank

The parents of the “DaddyOFive” YouTube channel lost custody of their two of their children in 2017 after a posting a video that depicted child abuse. Michael and Heather Martin of Maryland made more than 300 videos of themselves and their kids. But a video in April sparked outrage after it showed Michael screaming at 9-year-old Cody until he cried for spilling ink in the house. In reality, Michael and Heather squirted the invisible ink all over the rug. They waited five antagonizing minutes, while Cody was distressed, before telling him it was a joke. Due to the public backlash, the couple removed all but two of their videos: and one is them apologizing for the controversial stunt.